(Madrid) Rafael Nadal has tempered expectations ahead of his return to the ATP in January, after a year of absence.
Nadal announced on Friday that he would play in Brisbane. The 37-year-old Spaniard has been out of action since last January, when he injured his hip in a second-round defeat at the Australian Open. He was operated on in June in Barcelona.
On Monday, he posted a video on social media, saying:
“What worries me the most is not the hip, it’s everything else,” he said. I think I’m ready. I have confidence and hope that it will go well and that I will have the opportunity to have fun on the pitch. »
Nadal admitted that things might be different after such a long period without competition.
“I expect myself to not expect anything. It’s the truth. I want to be able to not demand of myself what I have demanded throughout my career. I am at a different time, in a different situation and in unfamiliar territory.
“Throughout my life, I have demanded the most from myself. Right now what I’m really hoping for is to be able to accept that things are going to be very difficult at first. I need to give myself time and forgive myself if things go wrong initially, which is very possible. »
Last May, just over a week before Roland Garros, Nadal said he would miss the tournament that won him 14 Grand Slam titles (out of 22). He then said he hoped to return in 2024, which he said would be his last season.